Never Surrender
by Cerice Belle
Summary: Ripped apart from those she loves, Orihime is a Jew sent to the Los Noches Labor Camp in WWII. Numb to the genocide he is in the midst of, Commander Ulquiorra carries his position with perfection. They were never to make contact, let alone fall in love. On Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning:**** This is a story based on the Holocaust. It follows real-life events and things that happened to real people. While the characters in this are not real and based off Tite Kubo's manga, Bleach, some of what happens to them are what actually happened in the Genocide of the Jews. If you are unfamiliar with the Holocaust or have difficulty with it, there may be some sections that will be disturbing. When these parts come up, I will place a warning in the note before-hand and will put the section in a ruler of its own, you will be notified that it may be disturbing. Please be aware that this is an M rated story.  
><strong>**  
><span>Another Warning:<span> This is a bit less serious but still read anyway. As I did not live during the Holocaust, nor am I a Jew, some of what happens in here will be purely fictional, in fact most of it probably is if the general events are based on real life. Please do not automatically think that what happens here is exactly the truth, although if you have some questions about whether it is or not, please feel free to message me or leave it in a review. But please don't go complaining about some things that happen that you do not think are true to the Holocaust as this is not a historical account at _all!_**

**Yet another warning, it's like watching CSI: As this tends to be a rather sensitive topic, I will be treating Jews and their customs with the utmost respect. If you see something you feel is disrespectful to them or their religion, please tell me as I would hate to seem to be mocking what happened.**

**Finally, (nope no warnings this time :p) as this is a sensitive issue, and very hard to write about, especially in terms of a love story, please be patient and kind with me as I have never tackled such a story before and want to do it justice. Please do not think that any derogatory terms I use in terms of Jews OR Germans is my opinion. I have the utmost respect for them and I love German food, especially Baklava, yumm (that is German, right?) So please understand this and be nice :) Niceness is always appreciated. **

**Summary:**** Set in World War II. She is a Jew taken from her friends, family and lover, to Los Noches labour camp. He is a German commander there, instructed with the genocide of the Jews. They were never supposed to talk or make physical contact, let alone to fall in love...  
>Starts out as IchiHime then moves onto UlquiHime. Other pairings include GinRan, NnoiNel and RenRuki. <strong>

**Whew OK , sorry about that, the next chapters will not have such loooong notes. Now finally onto the story!**

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><p>"Thank you very much, enjoy your bread," said the sunset-haired girl, waving at a customer from behind the counter holding pastries and rolls.<p>

"And you have a good day Miss Inoue," replied the man, taking his bag of bread and leaving the shop.

She smiled happily and turned to the shelves holding freshly-made bread behind her. She frowned, they were nearly out.

"Sora!" she called, looking over at her dark-haired brother who was kneading dough. "There are only four loaves left."

He looked over at the racks and smiled, "That's good, business is booming. I'll have more up in a few minutes Orihime, don't worry."

She nodded happily.

"Orihime!" came a shrill voice belonging to a red-headed woman with glasses.

"Good morning Chizuru," she enthused. "What can I get you today?"

"Just your lovely self is fine," giggled Chizuru. "However, I would like a poppy-seed loaf and some pastries."

"Coming right up!"

She bustled around, taking the last loaf of poppy-seed bread and a wrapped selection of the woman's favourite pastries. As she was placing them on the counter and collecting the money, the door opened, a bell ringing loudly as it did so, to reveal a tall man with shocking orange hair and warm, brown eyes.

"Ichigo!" she cried, waving enthusiastically at him.

"Hello Orihime," he said, smiling a smile that did not quite reach his eyes, his hands twitching over a rolled-up newspaper.

Her smile wavered, "Are you alright?"

"I'll leave you two lovebirds to it," grinned Chizuru cheekily, gathering up her food. "See you later Orihime."

"Bye Chizuru," she replied absently.

Ichigo strode forward, genuinely smiling this time, and planted a kiss on her forehead, "I'm fine sweetheart, I came to talk to Sora about something."

Her renewed smile faded again, she had been hoping to go out with him that day.

"Oh, he's just back there," she pointed to the kitchen behind her.

He walked around the counter and into the kitchen, "Hey Sora, can I talk to you for a moment?"

The man looked up from his kneading, concern on his face, "Sure Ichigo. Orihime, do you mind taking over this bread here, Ichinose should be able to keep the customers for a bit," he said, referring to an employee of the Inoue Bakery.

She did as he said, rolling up her sleeves and taking the bread. Sora quickly washed his hands of the flour covering them and went over to a door which he pushed open to reveal a hap-hazard study. Ichigo took the invitation and walked in quickly. Sora smiled at his sister who had her tongue between her teeth and she pushed the dough, and followed the man in.

Closing the door behind him he crossed his arms and stared at Ichigo who was running his hands through his hair absently.

"I have a feeling that this abrupt visit is not for permission to ask for Orihime's hand in marriage?" he said sternly.

Ichigo sighed and shook his head, "Unfortunately not, and it may not be happening for a while. Have you read today's Gazette?"

The baker shook his head and took the outstretched paper from Ichigo's hand. He read it quickly, his face blank as he took in the words. He finally looked up at the agitated man, folding the paper up.

"Well, which part did you want me to react to?"

"What do you mean which part?" he cried. "I mean the part about the fact that Hitler is invading Poland! He'll be at our borders by next week at the latest!"

Sora sighed and leaned against the desk, placing the paper down on it, "Haven't you heard that England and France have decided to help us out? Besides, this war won't last long, everyone's saying it won't."

"Do you really believe that?" asked the man, shooting him a look.

"I-no…no I don't. But I've got to try to, for Orihime's sake."

Ichiog's gaze softened slightly, "That's why I'm worried, how can we hope to have a future together when war is upon us? It's going to happen, no matter what the Allies do, Germany's got Russia and Japan, and even Italy although who knows what that's going to do."

Sora chuckled softly, "Well with luck we will be safe from the Nazis, I mean what are they going to do to us?"

"Are you joking?" asked Ichigo incredulously. "You have heard the rumours right, about the Jew discrimination in Germany?"

"Of course I have," he said waspishly. "But remember this Ichigo; they're just that, rumours. You cannot prove them until you see evidence. And as all I have heard are plain and simple rumours, I am not inclined to believe them."

"What do you mean by that? If you ask me, we should get out of the country right now!"

Sora's eyes flashed, "Don't be rash Ichigo. You cannot afford to simply leave, and where would you go?"

"I don't care!" he yelled. "I'm thinking of all of us, not just my own father and sisters but you and Orihime too! I can't live without her!"

"And how are you thinking of getting us out, we still don't know if these are true statements, why would Hitler hate Jews so much anyway? I understand you're worried, I am too, but I've got my business to run, I've got Orihime to think about, and, frankly, I don't have nearly enough money to support us in a race across Europe to find some safe country that is most likely in jeopardy anyway. And how would we survive, we would have no food, we would end up in a country where we could not speak the language, that's not surviving, we'd most likely die in the process!"

"Didn't you hear me before?" he cried. "I DON'T CARE! WE'VE JUST GOT TO GET OUT AND GET OUT NOW!"

"And didn't you hear _me _before? I said that we've got to think ahead! Orihime's not strong, neither is Yuzu, Karin could hold out but it would not be much longer, they're only 13 and Orihime's just 18, we couldn't support them! Maybe you, you're father and I could survive, but the girls would probably die or be seriously injured in the process."

"Well it's better to do it while trying to get away rather than just staying and letting death come to us!"

"Like I said, you're being rash! Jews may be being discriminated but I'm sure it's not as bad as you make it out to be."

"Maybe not but you could at least listen to me!"

"Well here's something," cried Sora, finally losing his temper. "WHY DON'T YOU TRY LISTENING TO ME?"

"Umm, Sora?" came a timid voice from the door.

The two men whipped around to see Orihime peering into the room looking frightened. She could feel the tension in the room, it was so thick it could be cut with a knife; she could practically see sparks between the two men.

"There are too many customers and Ichinose is complaining again, we need some backup."

He relaxed and smiled at her, "Thank you Orihime, I'll come right away, you go back and finish up that bread."

She hesitated at the door, worry etched clearly over her face.

"Don't worry," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Ichigo and I were just having a discussion, we'll be right out."

She nodded, still looking apprehensive, but left the room, leaving flour markings on the door where her hands had been.

Sora turned back to where Ichigo was standing, fists clenched, his face contorting strangely as he looked at the door.

"I think the case is closed," he stated coldly, opening the door and waving his hand toward it. "After you."

The hot-headed man stayed where he was, eyes glassy and unseeing.

"You could take Orihime out?" Sora suggested quietly.

"Maybe later," he replied, his voice shaky. "I need to go home and talk with my father."

He pushed past Sora and out of the room.

"Ichigo?" called Orihime, looking up from the baking tray she was holding.

"It's alright, Orihime," said Ichigo, turning to face her and giving her the most genuine smile he could manage. "We were talking, but it's fine."

She still looked worried, her big, starry grey eyes gazing widely at him. He sighed and walked over to her, planting his big hands on her shoulders and looking directly at her.

"I don't think I can today, but let's go out tomorrow, I'll take you to the markets and we can go to the park."

Her eyes lit up and she smiled happily at him, "I'd like that."

"Good," he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips.

She sighed happily and fell into the kiss, feeling the corners of his mouth turn up in a smile. They broke apart when they heard a non-too-discreet cough from Sora who was taking some bread out of the oven. Ichigo grinned and pulled away from her a little reluctantly then walked out of the kitchen, waving his hand at her.

"I'll see you tomorrow Orihime. Good day Sora."

"You too Ichigo," replied her brother.

Orihime pressed the back of her hand to her burning cheeks and sighed as she remembered the kiss she could still feel on her tingling lips.

"Come on Orihime, we've got more bread to make!" chided Sora kindly.

"Oh right!" she exclaimed, kneading the dough faster, smiling at the prospect of the next day.

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><p><strong>Sorry, a little short I know, but I hope you liked it. Do tell me if any of you think it is worth continuing, I like a challenge so hopefully I can do this justice. <strong>

***hugs* -Cerice**


	2. Iced Buns

**Here we go! Sorry that took so long :( I've been very busy with exams, and assignments, and more exams. This story will be a little further back in priority compared to my other UlquiHime which I am working on.  
>Thank you sooo much to aall my amazing reviewers! 10 reviews already woooww! and my favers and alerters, you are all awesome and keep me going!<br>Please Read This Note: I will be changing the name to _Never Surrender_ because I am very unhappy with this name. I may also be changing the summary.  
>Without further ado, onto a slightly darker chapter. <strong>

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><p>Orihime checked herself in the window of the Inoue bakery, smoothing a strand of orange hair in its bun, adjusting the collar of her pale blue blouse, straightening the brown polka-dotted skirt.<p>

"You look beautiful," said a warm voice next to her.

She jumped and turned around to see Ichigo standing next to her with a smile on his face.

She frowned at him playfully, "Don't scare me like that."

He grinned, "Shall we go?"

She nodded and put on her wide-brimmed straw hat with a flowing green bow. The two walked away from the bakery, down the street, and to the markets that operated every weekend, Friday morning to Sunday night, chatting about the bakery and Ichigo's family's own medical practice. The Kurosaki clinic specialised in Jewish medication that was visited by Jews from all over Poland and even non-Jews due to its increasing success rate. They spent the morning shopping for groceries and other necessities their families needed.

"How are your sisters going at sewing class?" Orihime asked as they looked at a fruit stall.

Ichigo chuckled as he picked up an apple and rolled it in his hands, "Yuzu loves it, she's the best in the class. Karin however, is a different story."

She took the apple from him and put it in a small bag along with two oranges, "She doesn't like it?"

"That's an understatement," he laughed. "She hates it. Says she never wants to go back again but she has to or she won't be able to find a good husband."

"Oh the poor thing," Orihime said sympathetically as she handed the bag of fruits to the vendor. "It's a shame she can't do something she likes."

"She likes to beat people up, I'm not sure if that's husband material," he said lightly.

She giggled and took the change from the vendor and walked off. Ichigo shook his head and took the bag from the counter; she always forgot what she bought. She stopped at the side of a shop and checked the shopping list.

"That seems to be all we need," she told him, tucking it into her bag. "What do you want to do now?"

"Why don't we go to the park?" he suggested. "Take a walk, we could get some bread and feed the ducks."

"That sounds nice!" she said enthusiastically.

Orihime turned to walk to the park but stopped suddenly as her gaze caught a stall filled with freshly-made iced buns. Her eyes glowed as she stared at them causing Ichigo laughed at her expression. He took out his money and walked over to the stall.

"Which one would you like?" he called to her.

"I can have one, really?" she exclaimed.

"Of course you can, silly," he said affectionately.

She skipped over and looked at the array of buns. She pointed to a small one with sprinkles.

"That one please," her hand moved to a pink-iced one and a chocolate one, "How about those two for Yuzu and Karin? We should also get ones for your father and Sora."

"Alright," he pointed out the ones she had mentioned as well as others for his father Isshin, Sora, and himself.

Orihime wandered over to look at a jewellery store, a wistful look in her eyes as she examined the rings. There were beautiful gold and silver bands, fancy diamond-studded engagement rings and simpler ones with only a gem or two. She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked around to see Ichigo holding an iced bun to her. His eyes flickered to the displayed rings, an odd look in his eyes.

"Not know," he told her quietly. "Later."

She nodded sadly, but took the offered bun with a smile. They began walking through the markets towards the park on the other side. Orihime took a bite out of her bun, savouring the sweet taste of the icing.

"I'm sorry," said Ichigo, looking down at his own bun. "I just don't think now's the right time, what with the war going on and all. You understand that don't you?"

She chewed thoughtfully. Once she had swallowed she answered him.

"I do know what you mean. But surely the war won't come here. We're a small country with barely any military; would the Germans really bother about us?"

He sighed, "We may be small, but it's possession rather than militia that matters."

She bit her lip in confusion.

"Look," he stopped and took her shoulders, turning her around, "Don't worry about it alright? You don't need to trouble yourself with this."

She nodded and he released her.

"I love you, you know that?" he asked her earnestly.

"Of course I do," she told him affectionately. "But I want to make it official, although I understand where you're coming from, I think."

He smiled and gave her hand a quick squeeze, glancing around as he did.

She giggled, "Ichigo, don't do that in public-" she broke off as she saw a beautiful dress in the window of a designer store. "Ooh!" she rushed over to it and pressed her face on the glass.

Ichigo shook his head good-naturedly as she filled her eyes with the beautiful, blue fabric, long ruffles, and swooping skirt. He was about to call her back when he heard a faint rumbling. He turned away from her and looked down the road where he was sure he had heard it.

"Orihime, did you hear that rumbling noise?" he called out to her.

"Hmm no," she replied, still absorbed with the dress. "It was probably thunder."

Ichigo frowned and looked up at the blue, cloudless sky. Suddenly he heard it again, louder this time, and followed by a bang. He jerked his head back to check the street, other people were doing the same. He was getting a very bad feeling in his chest.

"Orihime!" he called. "Come on, we should go home."

"I thought we were going to-" she began.

"Just come on!" he snapped, interrupting her.

Her eyes widened in shock but she hurried back to him. Ichigo's eyes were still firmly planted on the horizon of the street, he was sure he could see something, a giant storm of dust. But no dust storms happened here in Warsaw, and certainly not ones that flashed in places and created loud bangs. Suddenly he heard a loud roar that quickly turned into a scream; civilians were running away from the dust, shouting and shrieking at each other, mother's clutching wailing children and tugging them along.

"What is happening?" murmured Orihime, her eyes huge.

Other people from the markets had begun running too, following the crowd away from the storm that was turning black.

Ichigo grabbed the shirt of a man running by, "What's going on?" he demanded.

"It's the Germans!" cried the man, flailing in Ichigo's tough grip. "They're invading!"

"They weren't supposed to come for another month!" he gasped, dropping the man in shock, letting him scamper away.

He turned his gaze back to the approaching cloud that he could now see was not black, but filled with thousands of German soldiers marching towards them, shooting anyone or anything nearby.

Orihime gasped "Ichigo what do we do?"

"Run," he said quietly. "Run!" he cried, louder.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her along the road, away from the invading army. She dropped her bags and pushed her legs as fast as she could alongside him. Her hat suddenly flew off her head and landed on the ground where it was trampled by hundreds of fleeing people.

"My hat!"

"Leave it!" he snapped, jerking her as she tried turning back to it.

They both looked back as they heard a scream; a bullet had rebounded off a nearby window and straight into an elderly woman who had collapsed. Orihime cried out and tried pulling out of his grip to help her.

"No!" he yelled. "There's nothing you can do, come one!"

She stared at him, her bottom lip trembling, but turned back and let him pull her along faster as they raced down the street. Something exploded just behind them causing Orihime to scream. Ichigo turned his head back for a second, the army was much closer, and it looked like they had military tanks with them too. He grimaced, they would not make it back to Sora in time, they had to find shelter, and _now! _

"Orihime!" called a voice.

They both turned their heads to see the red-headed Chizuru waving frantically at them from the side of the road.

"In here!" she said, beckoning to them and indicating a hole in the ground. "It's a shelter, quickly!"

They wasted no time in running over to her. Orihime gulped as she peered into the hole to see a skeletal ladder leading down into darkness.

"Right, I'll go first," ordered Ichigo. "Orihime you come after me."

She nodded shakily as he quickly dropped himself into the hole and shimmied down the ladder. She heard a soft thud as he landed on the ground below.

"Come on Orihime!" he called.

She bit her lip as she stared into the darkness. Suddenly there was a loud bang and something exploded above them, rubble raining down on her head. That did it for her. She carefully held onto the sides and lowered herself in, finding her footing nervously in the dark. She put her feet down one at a time, desperately trying not to think of what would happen if she fell.

"Hurry up!" hissed Chizuru somewhere above her.

She took a deep breath and put her right foot down to the next rung, but there was none. She gasped as she lost her footing and fell. Instead of hitting hard ground, a pair of warm arms quickly caught her and lowered her shaking form gently to the floor. She clutched Ichigo as she shivered, taking deep breaths. She heard a snap from above that indicated the hole was closed, plunging them into complete darkness. Chizuru quickly scuttled down and landed easily.

"Anyone got a match in here?" she asked quietly as another blast sounded from above.

There was shuffling, a flicking noise, and light suddenly filled the room as a match was lit and placed in a lantern. Orihime sniffed and lifted her head from its place in Ichigo's chest. At first she saw stars from the sudden brightness of the candle, but as they adjusted, she came to realise that they were in some sort of cellar. The floor was hard stone as were the walls, both very dirty. Shelves of engineering materials lined the sides and there was a working table in the corner. They were not the only ones there; five other people were sitting on the ground. An elderly man held a lamp with a flickering candle inside it.

Orihime quickly wiped her face, feeling it going red with embarrassment. Her eyes lightened up as she recognised two of the people: a small girl with mousy brown hair and eyes, and a taller one with long black hair.

"Michiru, Ryo!" she exclaimed, naming two of her popular customers and a part of her group at community sewing.

The small girl named Michiru ran over to hug her.

"Orihime! I'm so glad you're alright," she sobbed.

Ryo just nodded to her, not one for talking. Michiru pulled back and sat down next to her, as did Chizuru. Ichigo shuffled around her from his place on the floor and clasped hands with the two boys, a big, dark one, and a thin, black-haired one with glasses.

"Chad, Uryu, glad to see you are safe," he said.

"You two Kurosaki," replied the one with glasses.

"They were visiting the store when we heard the Germans coming, we all just ran out here where all our supplies are kept," explained Chizuru. "Uryu and Chad were picking up supplies to make a table for Uryu's father, and Ryo and Michiru came by to pick me up to go to the markets."

"Oh we were just there," Ichigo added.

Chizuru pointed to the fifth person holding the lantern, "This is my father, Gorou Honsho."

The old man had Chizuru's red hair and glasses although was lacking her purple eyes. He smiled and shook hands with Ichigo.

"Nice to meet you Mr Honsho, thank you for letting us stay here."

"Please, just call me Gorou," he said kindly. "And it's no trouble at all; any friend of Chizuru's is a friend of mine."

Suddenly the loudest bang yet appeared above them causing Orihime to squeal and bury her face into Ichigo's shirt. There was a loud rumbling and the walls began to shake. The army was now right over the top of them, the tanks clearly heard by their distinctive grinding noise, and the monotonous marching of the Germans only broken by the loud bangs as they shot at the houses and people. Everyone stayed quiet as the rumbling continued, loud crashes and explosions continued; shaking the walls so hard that pieces of rock from them fell to the ground. Orihime kept her face firmly in Ichigo's shoulder as he rubbed her back soothingly, mouthing to Uryu across from him about the situation, a trick the two had learned at school together.

The noises continued for what seemed like hours, constant explosions that never stopped. Finally, there was one loud bang, then silence. It stretched on, everyone too afraid to move. After a long time, Uryu stood up.

"I think they're gone," he said quietly.

Orihime lifted her head from Ichigo's shirt, her wet face sticking to it slightly.

"Are you sure?" she whispered shakily.

"Only one way to find out," he replied.

He walked over to the ladder and began to climb it carefully, constantly stopping to hear anything above.

"Be careful," cautioned Michiru as he reached the top.

He put his hand under the door and pushed it open, just enough to allow his eyes to peep out onto the street. After a moment of looking, he closed it and looked down at them, face grim.

"They've gone for now, but it's not a pretty sight up there."

Chad heaved himself up and began climbing the ladder as Uryu opened the door and manoeuvred himself out. Ryo and Mr Honsho followed, the latter stiffly holding his back. Orihime removed herself from Ichigo's arms as he stood up and followed him up the ladder, surer of her footing now that she could see. She heard Ichigo hiss as he stepped out and handed her his hand to help her up. She took it gratefully and hauled herself up, straightening stiffly from sitting in the same, uncomfortable position for so long.

Pushing her hair back, she gave an intake of breath as her grey eyes caught the scene before her. The whole town was in ruins. Not a single house was left unscathed. Windows were smashed, doors had been broken down, many walls were collapsing, some rooves were caving in. A few houses were destroyed completely. Chizuru's own house behind them had been emptied of all its windows; the front wall was crumbling, the door hanging on its hinges. But the worst, was all the bodies lying on the ground. Some in the middle of the street had been completely trampled, many more littered the sidewalks, she could see some in their houses. Hundreds of bodies, broken, bleeding, destroyed. Those that were relatively unscathed were walking around searching for any survivors, or their own family. She could already see families clustering around still figures on the ground. A mother was clutching a limp form to her chest, tears streaming down her face.

Orihime could feel her throat closing up, her eyes becoming overwhelmed with tears. Her vision was completely blurred, she could barely see anything. She wiped her eyes with her arm and looked up at the sky to avoid seeing the destruction. In some ways, it was worse. The sky was blue, a warm, azure blue with not a cloud to be seen, the sun shining down on the scene below, mocking those that had died. She wished it would rain, that something could wash away all the pain, or at least cry with them, and feel what they were all feeling. Why would it not rain? Why was the sky jeering at her and her emotion-filled heart? Why was this happening to them? So many people, and what for? What cause would the Germans have to do this?

They were coming now, hard and fast, the tears falling down her face. She let her head hang back down and stare at the dirty floor at her feet, the surface muddy from the feet that had attacked it with their slaughter. The mud was suddenly interrupted by a drop of water, then another, and another, pooling together to create a small puddle of tears. Two strong arms wrapped themselves around her and clutched her two a warm, safe chest. She let herself cry into him, clutching her hands to his shirt as the tears wet the cottony material. All too soon, Ichigo pushed her away from him, not ungently.

He turned to where Chizuru and her father were holding each other, the girl's eyes running.

"Thank you for letting us take shelter," Ichigo said quietly.

The older man nodded, not taking his eyes away from his daughter. Orihime realised absently that the others had left, probably to find their own families.

"Let's go," Ichigo told her.

She held onto him as he guided her carefully through the throngs of people, luckily more alive than dead. As much as she wanted to, she could not avert her eyes from the devastation before them. All she could see were the bodies and ruined homes.

"Orihime!" called a familiar voice.

She jerked her head up to see Sora running towards her; they were only a few buildings away from the Inoue Bakery. When had they gotten there? He rushed at her, taking her in his arms and embracing her tightly, his own tears mixing with hers as she cried into his shoulder.

"Thank you Ichigo," he said, looking up at the orange-headed man. "I don't know how I can say it, but thank you."

"I'm glad to see you're safe," replied Ichigo.

"Ichigo!" came a squeal as Ichigo was suddenly enveloped by two young girls, one with black hair, the other with light brown, and a big man with black hair.

"I'm glad to see you're alright son," said his father, wiping his eyes.

"We managed to find shelter with a friend of Orihime's," he said, eyes downcast.

"It was a good thing your family came over to ask us to their place for dinner tonight," nodded Sora, still clutching a shaking Orihime. "We were able to hide at the back with the customers."

Ichigo released his sisters, both of whom were crying, the smaller one harder than the other.

"We had better get going," Isshin told Sora. "I don't think we will be having dinner together tonight. But we'll come over tomorrow to check on you two."

Sora shook his head, "We'll come to your place, you will need to look after your patients at the clinic, we can help."

"Thank you Sora, I appreciate that," said Isshin gratefully. "See you tomorrow then."

"Look after her," Ichigo told him, nodding to Orihime.

With that, the four left, Isshin holding the smallest sister. Sora sighed and gently picked up Orihime and brought her inside. He lay her down on a sofa upstairs and covered her with a blanket.

"Sora?" she whispered, blinked her eyes dazedly.

"Shh," he murmured, pushing a strand of her orange hair back from her head. "We're alright, you just sleep now."

She nodded and sank into the soft darkness that hid the reality of the world from her eyes, and plagued her with dreams of loud explosions, old women and small children collapsing to the ground, and Ichigo and Sora burning in an eternal fire while she fell away from them into a black hole.

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed that, longest chapter I've written before I think, about 6-7 pages. Yaay! Pleeease review about how I went and you get your own virtual iced bun with an Ichigo on top ;) <strong>

***hugs* -Cerice**


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